Just over 5% of the overall health budget was spent on mental health in 2013, down from 13% in the 1980s, the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI) has said.

It has expressed serious concern about funding cuts in this area.

It noted that the Programme for Government had agreed that €35 million per year would be ring fenced for mental health, particularly the development of community mental health teams. However, in Budget 2014, which was announced earlier this month, just €20 million was ring fenced for these community developments.

Meanwhile, funding for the mental health service overall has fallen from €937 million in 2006 to €733 in 2013.

The CPI noted that just 5.2% of the overall health budget is spent on mental health, a far lower figure than is recommended for a developed country.

In 2006, the Government published a blueprint for mental health services - A Vision for Change. It recommended gradually building up the mental health budget to 8.24% of the entire health budget, however this has not happened.

In the UK, 12% of the entire health budget is spent on mental health.

"The fact that the mental health budget has been disproportionally reduced compared with other health budgets is concerning, and contributes to the stigma associated with mental health," commented Dr Anne Jeffers of the CPI.

In its pre-Budget submission, the CPI had outlined the lack of development of community and specialist services and the detrimental effect this was having on people with mental health problems and their families.

It emphasised that reducing spending in this area will only end up costing society more in the future.

"We are calling on the Department of Health and the HSE to ensure mental illness gets the percentage of the health budget that A Vision for Change has recommended.

"How we treat the most vulnerable in our society is a measure of what kind of society we are, and when people are unwell they may not be in a position to advocate for their needs, and those entrusted with responsibility have a duty of care to ensure their voice is heard," commented CPI president, Dr Anthony McCarthy.